Pentax Optio 450

This camera started me out with digital photography and I was impressed. It had many interesting functions (3-D, panoramic views constructed with multiple shots) and delivered vibrant color. The camera was a good medium size but felt like a smooth brick and should have had some machined rough grip. The controls were intuitive and gave you the option of programming your most-used functions (Menu button plus directional pad). Macro mode (down to 2 cm range) was impressive but I had no use ...

Fine compact camera, I chose between Optio 450 and 555 and picked up the 450 because of 5mp Pentax matrix high noise. I think, with 5x zoom it's possible to scale a frame immediately when shooting rather than cropping image in Photoshop. Problems: I'm a bit frustrated cause of missing external flash hot shoe, so built-in flash is not enough in low light, but I knew it before. And is included 16 Mb SD card a joke, who use it anyway?

It has all been said already in the other reviews: great cam, nice zoom lens, solid construction. I just want to add that the user interface of this camera is wonderful: over- and underexpose are directly accessible, menu options are organised logically, you can define custom functions, there is a user mode and an grid overlay to align objects properly, the screen is excellent and the camera 'feels' good and solid. Only the menu buttons could have been a bit bigger. Overall a very nice ...

Splendid camera - excellent features - easy use of programs - only missing; additional flash possibilities Problems: Like other cameras, some AF problems in extremely bad light

Really happy with this camera. Excellant quality from shots at *** and full res. Lots of control or just put it on P (Program mode) and shoot. I read all the reviews and no other camera in this price range, or even $100 more, has the features or quality along with this big a zoom in such a small package. ** I dl's and updated the bios of the camera from Panasonic, was very easy to do. The start up time from off to ready to shoot is now less then 3 seconds. I've been using this camera for over ...

First the good 1. great lens/zoom combination 2. great menu system - fast 3. good build in case 4. movies with sound pretty good and unlimited record 5. compact 6. customisable 7. the "meow" startup sound - so funny Problems: Now the bad 1. autofocus slow in low light 2. lens cover jams sometimes 3. no grips on case 4. no setting for flash power 5. plastic tripod mount and off centre !

This camera is a winner, with one extremely glaring flaw, and one that's not a show stopper. The design is nice - solid and attractive. The zoom is great and the lens is nice. I love the interface, particularly the playback mode. Notably less noise than the Optio 550 at high ISO settings. Battery life is beyond superb. Problems: The bug involving night shots has been fixed! See my web page for more info: http://www4.ncsu.edu/~opevans/optio450bug.html However, the camera still has a crummy ...

In reply to the person who said this camera can't focus indoors - yes it can. Unless you live in a house with no lights and no windows. The only problem I've had with the autofocus, is when I've tried to focus in extreme darkness, ie trying to take a picture of a cat hidden behind a large object, where there is zero light. Even when you dont get an autofocus lock, you can use the manual focus easily. Pictures are coming out well for me, definitely good enough for holiday/every day photos, not ...

I wanted a very compact 4mp pixel camera (personally didnt think I will need to go up to a 5mp pixel), that had all the manual functions. Couldn't really find anything on the market like that, so I was going to buy the Optio 550. Went into to buy the optio 550 last week when the shop keeper informed me that the 450 has just been shipped in. I remember reading that the 450 should (being a 4mp camera) have less noise problems for indoor shots. I think this may well be the case. I have set the ...